Final Reflection

So, first of all I'd just like to say a little bit about blogging. I enjoyed this experience. It was something that I had never before done, and so it took a little while to get into it, but I got into a groove midway through. I do feel bad though about it for two reasons. First, I got sick for two weeks during the semester and my blogging really died during that time. Second, once we started doing our group project I really stopped blogging at all. Even though I was working on stuff the entire time--whether through researching, coming with ideas, writing, etc.--I just didn't post anything. That's definitely a regret of mine. I also recently realized that I never put up my blog on my interview with Adam White from the play Merchant of Venice. So, I'll probably get that up tomorrow. I hadn't finished it, then got sick, and then forgot about it while I was really busy catching up and getting ready for finals. Sad day! Sorry Adam!!!

Now, on to the learning outcomes:

1. Gain Shakespeare Literacy
Breadth:
I definitely feel that I have achieved this part of the outcome. Before this class, I had only ever read Romeo and Juliet and Much Ado About Nothing. But that was back in high school. That was way too long ago. Now I have added to that list with The Tempest, Hamlet, Love's Labour's Lost, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry V, and King Lear.

Depth:
I feel that I really understand A Midsummer Night's Dream a whole lot more now. I remember doing Hamlet and breaking into groups to further delve into different monologues (which was really fun). While I didn't do exactly that for this play, some of Emily's research really led me to look at it in a different way. As this play was really closely tied into our final project, I learned a lot more about the symbolism of it all and how certain phrases or writing methods could be compared to other plays. I kind of had to in order to get my ideas down well for the Shakespeare Discussion Panel that we did, as well as how we came up with the name Ortegia for Star-Crossed. Yet again, I didn't post all we went through for that, but we wanted it to tie into Artemis (Goddess of the Moon and the Woods/Hunt) as she fit in so well with A Midsummer Night's Dream. It took so long to find that!!!

Performance:
Beyond Wishbone, I don't really know if I had ever seen even a basic production of Shakespeare. I don't know how I managed that. I really liked it though, seeing the characters come to life. The plays definitely have a better feel in that way. I still occasionally found it difficult to follow all the dialogue, which is why I was so glad I had already read and analyzed each play before watching. At least I had a general idea! Of course, it also led to me being more judgmental, like how a fan of a book is disappointed in the movie made based on the book. I also found that if I didn't like a play as much as others, I didn't like the play as much either.

Legacy:
Well, I definitely tried to understand it well. Hmmm, I am not sure if I can say that I REALLY know a lot about all the history--although I definitely did get some of that, like words and phrases Shakespeare came up with or popularized--as I more-so focused the actual text. I definitely saw how it was in popular culture though. If you remember my blog on The Lion King 2, you'll see the Merchant of Venice quote in there. There more I know about Shakespeare, the more I see references to his works in things around me. I always feel kind of happy when I see that.

2. Analyze Shakespeare Critically
Textual Analysis:
Hmmm. Although we did do a good bit of this in class, I don't feel like I dove into this as much as others. While I did have some posts about Hamlet's soliloquy and I remember talking about the rhyming in A Midsummer Night's Dream, I feel like I generally tended to focus more on how the plot of the play could be applied to life. Or math. Which is basically the same thing. :)

Contextual Analysis:
I applied the plot/words, etc. a lot to modern-day living, I feel. That's something I felt I did pretty well with. I don't know--I just seem to naturally try to always apply the plot to life around me and see it, so I always seemed to gravitate more to that than anything else.

Application of Literary Theories:
Well, I didn't do a whole lot with Literary theories. At least, I didn't do so specifically.

Analysis of digital mediations:
You know, I don't think I ever sat down and wrote about anything that I watched, besides Lion King 2--which doesn't count. And it's probably too late to do so now. Oops! But it is always interesting to see the different takes and styles that are pursued in a movie in comparison to a play. And, of course, it all looks pretty legit in comparison too. But not always. :)

3. Engage Shakespeare Creatively
Performance:
Well, I'd definitely call my performances for our final project a good example of meeting this. I had really wanted to do the Hamlet soliloquy too before I got sick, but then after working on this one and hearing my voice I kind of lost steam for it. But then I had Kent compliment me on it after the final, so maybe I'll give it a go after all and put it up later, despite my nasally voice...

Individual Creative Work:
So, something I STILL really want to do is that idea I had of quoting Shakespeare to people, and then collecting data on reaction/results, etc. and kind of turning it into a mathematical thing. That'd be really fun! So, springtime will be busy, but come summer term I think that I'd like to still do that. If anybody wants to help out, let me know! And yes, I know nobody will probably read all of this because of all the words, words, words....so I'll just let them all know via other media. :)

Collaborative Creative Project:
This was so much fun! And so much work! We spent some much time researching things to make it all sound good and convincing. For example, we all spent about a week individually coming up with Ortegia's name--we wanted it to be perfect, and to tie it in with the moon, the woods, Greek Gods/Goddesses, and Puck. Ortegia fit quite nicely. But we went through so many other possibilities! And there was so much good stuff that we had that just didn't fit into our time budget. Sadness. Emily had another scene, we had Ariel throwing some jabs at Puck about how he was in love (which fits in quite well with the feel to A Midsummer Night's Dream), Anne had gotten a lot more evidence with iambic pentameter, etc. So, it was sad to not include it all into our video, but I still felt it came out looking really nice. I especially liked how ours was a good original idea. I also like how it was my idea. Yes, I'm definitely proud of it. Especially since I found later on that I could come up with lots of ideas, but nothing would come up whenever I tried to write. It takes so long, and it was never anywhere near Anne's. but that's why we work together, right? :)

4. Share Shakespeare Meaningfully
Formal Writing:
Well, I did a lot of research for the final project, and some of my reviews and other posts could probably be placed under this category, so I feel like I did alright with it. I didn't do a research paper like the other class had to, and I didn't do a whole lot of in depth formal writing, but I did some.

Informal Writing:
I did a lot of this. I really like fun blog posts! I think they made my blog a lot more fun to read. Pictures, videos, jokes, etc. just make me want to read more about what was written, whereas I feel like this post will be kind of boring because it is so long. So I'll add a picture at the end for you to reward you. :)

Connecting:
Well, I've definitely shared our final project with people and they've all enjoyed it when they saw it. But whenever I tried to talk straight Shakespeare, most of my friends gave me the "what are you going on about?" look. Just the ones who don't really know Shakespeare though. I imagine that's because they didn't feel comfortable talking about something they weren't proficient in. But I definitely brought it up a lot throughout the semester! Infinitely more-so than before, as I never even gave Shakespeare a thought before this class. :) I have definitely become more cultured now.

5. Gain Digital Literacy
Consume:
I feel like I "consumed" a lot. Especially in the beginning when I looked for many other sources that I felt related to our plays, like Arthur, Between the Lions, Wishbone, The Simpsons, etc.

Create:
Well, I definitely feel like I have done a lot with creating things using different media sources. It's something that I had never really gotten into, so it was nice to expand my horizons with the blogging, videos, sound studio room thingy in the JFSB, etc.

Connect:
I feel like I have really gotten a lot out of this. Before the final project, I did things like the interview with Adam White (which I still need to put up after all this time--man!) and taking a date to a play, etc. But for the final project it was really nice to involve those in my bishopric. They really enjoyed it too and look forward to seeing the final project. Finally, I will definitely connect this summer when I do my social experiment of quoting Shakespeare to others and observing reactions. That will be so fun. :)

Yeah, it's a cool dinosaur. Just like you. And yes, that's pretty much the highest form of a compliment according to my roommate. :)

Shakespeare discussion panel video

So, we final got a shot of the video. It was pretty funny how off-script we went, but I think it turned out just fine for how amateur I am. Here's the video:

Hmmm. It would appear that Google no longer hosts the videos, or something to that effect. That's what my research dictates at least. No wonder I always failed before then! Well, when we get this on YouTube, we'll be able to post it here. So look for it in a few days! Sorry!

And here's the rough script:

Moderator:

So, we are here today to discuss the validity of a supposed Shakespeare play that was recently discovered.  We are joined by _______, _________, __________, and _________ to discuss its validity. Now, let’s open it up.  Is this play a bona fide Shakespeare Creation?

1:

I’d say that it is.  Though there are subtle differences between it and many of his other plays, I’d say that can be explained by how it was an early creation.  Perhaps he was in his formative years.  There are just too many similarities in the end for us to be able to throw it out as not Shakespeare.

Moderator:

Could you give us some examples?

1:

Easily.  First, let’s start with the iambic pentameter.  Now, generally Shakespeare would stay very strictly to this scheme, but in certain situations, such as when a character is aggravated or caught off-guard, he would frequently break this rhythm.  I’ve heard some voice concern over how this happens, so I have compiled a list of other instances where he did so in other plays.  Some of the plays were Hamlet, King Lear, and Antony and Cleopatra.  For time sake, let’s just look at Hamlet’s soliloquy. He begins with 11 syllables: “To be, or not to be, that is the question.”  Obviously, he was under a lot of stress, and Shakespeare was not averse to using such a break in the rhythm in order to further stress the poignant feelings of his characters.

2:

If I may, I’d like to jump in here too.  Many of the points in the plot relate well with other Shakespeare plays as well. For example, there is a “play-within-a-play” that takes place when a play is held during one of the celebrations.  Similarly, this happens in plays like Love’s Labour’s Lost, Hamlet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, among many others.  The difficulties portrayed by both Puck and Ortegia are also very much in line with a typical Shakespeare romantic tragedy.

4:

It’s also interesting to see the obvious similarities to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which is very closely linked to it.  For example, Titania is derived from the Greek gods and can be attributed to the sun, whereas Ortegia comes from the story of Artemis, who is known as the goddess of the moon and hunting. It is pretty easy to see how the moon and the woods tie into a story such as this one.

3:

Yes, yes, yes.  That’s all well and good, but the real issues here are a completely different topic.  I can understand saying that the largely two dimensional characters can be attributed to it being an early creation, but there are some really big issues we have to address.

4:

Yes, like why it appears to be a prequel. I am not aware of any other play by Shakespeare that is like that. It seems like a very modern, Hollywood thing.

2:

Well, I suppose it is possible that there were others, but they were either censored like this one or just weren’t any good.

3:

Yes, but it just doesn’t seem too plausible. It is statistically unlikely.

4:

And why isn’t Ortegia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream? That’s a really big hole to fill when she played such a pivotal role in Star-Crossed.

1:

I still feel that this play was written by Shakespeare.  The main reasons for this are the many small quirks that Shakespeare generally used.  Anyone who really knows Shakespeare will catch onto them while reading. Nobody would take the time to write it out and then hide it in a book just in case it was found. The book was genuinely at least decades of years old. It wouldn’t make sense for anyone to do something like that unless there was some profit for them. 

Critique of Love's Labour's Lost

So, I thought that the play overall was quite well done.  My favorite parts were Costard's.  It just really helps to have a character like him come to life.  He is definitely the biggest reason, I feel, that this play is a comedy.  He just has so many lines, and I thought the actor did alright portraying him as a mischievous individual.

Let's talk about the setting.  It was interesting to have it set in the 40's, but I thought it fit very nicely.  It was very interesting too to have so much of it revolve around the United Service Organization radio show.  Although I never really did see much of why the "Duke" had so much sway and influence, nor did I see them really stay away from women AT ALL during the play, I thought just about everything else fit in perfectly well.  After all, Don Armado was supposed to be good at entertaining, so he fit into the radio show host quite well.

Reading through the director's note, I can especially see why this fit well.  After all, many of Shakespeare's romantic comedies end with a marriage scene, or scenes as the case may be.  However, in Love's Labour's Lost they don't end in this way.  In similar manner, none of the characters married at the end of this production as they didn't want to marry someone who'd just go off and die.  Although the director's grandparents did get married beforehand, I can definitely see how this ties in rather well.

I also thought that the use of props and accents went over quite well.  Especially in Don Armado's case.  It really added to the humor of it all.  Just a last thought on the setting they were all placed in.

I really liked how they revolved around the canteen for the actual set.  All transitions seemed to go really well, and they kept it very simple.  I especially liked how the mirrors were simple wooden frames.  We could all tell what they were, but with very little to help us out.  This definitely made moving them a lot easier!  And we could still see them.  That probably had a bit to do with it too. But I liked how they could just pull up or drop down a few things to make it all work, and that all the other scenes were either inside or outside of the canteen area.  It is also fun to note that I don't think the musicians ever had to move, but you never really noticed them when they weren't in the scene.  Very well done.

So, those are just a few of my impressions from the play.  It seemed to go very streamlined both in action and in going along with the original.

Shakespeare discussion panel

So, am I terribly evil if I kind of envision our Shakespeare panel as this?

And now, to justify it:

I really like how serious they are about it. They bring in names, statistics, etc. as well and they do cover a few vital issues concerning their topic. So, as a Shakespeare panel, we should definitely be similar in these ways to them. I do like going at it with two for, two against, and one mediator.

For Kent

As the title implies, this is mostly for Kent. :)

Originally, I had wanted the audio for this, but I can't quite figure out how to get that working. Basically, I think I need to get some other software on my computer first. But I haven't had the time to look into it yet. But, here it is without the audio (which is probably better for all of you, as I can't sing--I mean seriously, how many times have you gone Christmas caroling and had their dog come out and howl along with you???). 

So, since we did some recording on Saturday, I was thinking about how nice it would be if I had Kent's experience and confidence in acting. So, I quickly came up with this little song about it:

 If I could be like Kent

 I would give anything

 Just to spend one day

In his shoes

I figured the song choice was fitting for what we were doing. And yes, I am getting pulled off the stage there because my singing is so bad. If you want a second opinion, I'm sure Anne and Emily would agree.

Sickly-sweet tones of a hopeless romantic

I'll just start this post off by expressing how happy I am that we will be watching this play. Mostly because I can see how fun a lot of this dialogue is going to be. It's just that it is so hard to read through all of these poems and letters that the men are writing!!! Ah, it's just too much!!!

So, finishing this play made me think: what do women really want when a guy comes to court them? Especially the ones in these plays--many of them seem to be wealthy and well-to-do. After all, if somebody wanted to make an impression on me, spouting poetry all day every day would lead me to the same fate as poor Katherine: killed by love.

Now, the ideal response to this question would definitely be to have all the girls who read this comment on what they (or their "friend") would most like to give the guys a better picture. Unless of course they do what this sickly-sweetness that I felt was overly-represented in this play. I don't know. I personally feel that such lines and phrases can be dynamite when used sparingly and in timely situations.

But, I guess I could share what I think girls want most. Correct me if I'm wrong.

1. Girls are crazy. Just don't even try to guess what they want.




But really. It sometimes is like that.





I guess, in general girls want someone they feel secure with, someone who always picks them up when they are down and makes them feel like they are someone others want to be like and be around (AKA the best thing in the guy's life is her), someone who will spoil her (is that just sometimes, or all time?), someone who helps her be her best, someone she is comfortable with, etc. Something like that, right?

Anyway, I just wanted to post about this today because I got so tired of the love poetry over and over and over and over and over and over and...kind of like you might already be tired of this repetitive sentence. :)

Anyway, what do all of you think? I do definitely want to have some comments on what people think about this, either on what girls (and guys for that matter) really look for, or what people thought about the poems and love letters in Love's Labour's Lost.

Star-Crossed overall plot

So, I just wanted to put this up for all to see. What does everybody think of this as our overall plot for Star-Crossed?

First, we begin with Ariel and Puck hanging out, pulling pranks and whatnot.  It should be a very fun scene and we are all working individually this week on pranks that they could pull. I should have mine up tomorrow.

Second, Oberon begins to notice Puck. He wants him to be one of his attendants. At this time, he learns of Puck's romantic engagements, and so he comes up with the idea of giving Puck a magical potion of some sort that will make him forget of his love. He then has Puck go get it for him, and we read of Puck's adventure in doing so.

Third, due to a miscommunication (possibly due to one of Puck's pranks), Puck thinks that his love has left him, though she really hasn't. Oberon responds by offering the potion to him, which he then takes. We then are thinking of ending with Anne's quote, as a monologue by Puck's love. It's pretty legit. :)

So, that's basically what we are thinking off right now.

Just a start

So, this is really ONLY a starting point. I still need to make it sound more Shakespeare-like and I need to check iambic pentameter, rhythm, etc. But here's my first draft of a scene:

Ariel: Well met young Puck. I feel we have much in common. Come, away with us my boy. Our first feat will be to tamper with the affairs of those hapless creatures in the local village.

Puck: And what shall we do there master?

Ariel: Why, I generally leave that up to how I feel in the moment. I give myself a lot of room to work in.

Puck: Such as?

Ariel: Sometimes I hide their clothes. At other times, I get them to fall asleep and I move them somewhere else. And sometimes I change their appearance and watch the reactions of those around them.

Puck: Aye, that sounds gloriously entertaining!

Ariel: On then, young lad. Let us get to it.

Ariel: Well, here we are young lad. Does anything catch your eye?

Puck: Hmmm. I suppose that the young lass over there looks like she could use some more cheer in her day.

Ariel: That would be a dog. They aren’t as much fun to tease as humans. I can tell this is your first time.

Puck: Ok, so a human then. How about that foolish looking lad. He looks like he’d be easy enough.

Ariel: Fine then. What sort of trickery do you see in store for him?

Puck: Hmmm. He does seem to be a bit of an idiot. Perhaps we should get him to follow us somewhere?

And then I'll have them do something. So, I know it needs a lot of editing, and I'll do that very soon. Content-wise though, what do you guys think? I know that the writing is terrible and I really need to flesh out some 3D characters for it, but do you all have any thoughts as to what Shakespeare would do for that or how he would really make it come alive now? 

I think I'm a little behind...

So, I've heard we have a wiki where we are collaborating for our final project. Where is that exactly?

Anyway, I am definitely behind the times.  Thank you Emily for trying to catch me up. In your email to me, you mentioned how we wanted a background story for Puck, tying it into an Aladdin-esque theme. So, how about this?

Aladdin was an orphan, so we can say that Puck was found in the forest as a young one. He was reared by a fairy under Oberon (so a slightly better life than Aladdin--we could also just have him live alone until he is older and that is why he likes pranks so much-->because he's finally around people or something like that), and this fairy is a very humorous fairy. His life beforehand is largely a mystery--he was found with absolutely nothing but the clothes on his back, and he was too young to remember much. He is happier now though. Perhaps he had some memories of a bad domestic influence in his early years. But we'll never know.  Such is the life of us peons.

Anyway, we need a love interest.  And an unrequited one at that. So, perhaps we could have a fairy friend of Puck who totally digs him.  But he sees her more as a sister the entire time, and also doesn't want to mess up their friendship at all (maybe another friend dated a close friend and it ruined their relationship recently). Anyway, since he had some bad upbringing pre-Oberon, maybe he doesn't want to lose the warmth of such a good relationship. Also, Puck has his eye on a high-standing fairy, as per my original idea. She is a pretty amazing fairy, and she is also very influential. But, as he is a low-standing fairy, he doesn't have a chance to catch her eye. So, we can have a bit of a chase going on here.

This is only something that I am thinking of as I type, so it could definitely be improved. And I have no idea what we have already done.  So I apologize if there are any repeats or anything I wrote was already discussed.

So, again, I know that this is pretty bad. But I'm just throwing it all up here in order to get the creative juices flowing. Once I have a better understanding of what direction we are heading in, I'll be able to focus it better and drastically improve the quality.  As it is now, though, I do not have any idea what we are shooting for. I am sailing without a compass as it where.

Pythagorean influence?

So, I keep coming back in my mind to the first act of Love's Labour's Lost.  In it, the king is trying to set up an academy where the men do nothing but study.  It is interesting to note some of the similarities this shares with the brotherhood that Pythagoras established.

 

As per Wikipedia, some of the characteristics were:

Candidates had to pass through a period of probation, in which their powers of maintaining silence (echemythia) were especially tested, as well as their general temper, disposition, and mental capacity.


There were ascetic practices (many of which had, perhaps, a symbolic meaning) in the way of life of the sect.^[65] Some represent Pythagoras as forbidding all animal food, advocating a plant-based diet, and prohibiting consumption of beans.
There appears to be some historical discrepancies regarding this, but temperance of all kinds seems to have been urged. 


It is also stated that they had common meals, resembling the Spartan system, at which they met in companies of ten.^[70]

Ten, of course, was the most sacred number. They even prayed to it. :)

So, when Ferdinand creates a law that those who study with him for the next three years must inhibit their time with women (even though women were included in Pythagoras' brotherhood), food, and other such pursuits, it really reminded me of this.  In their search for further knowledge, they wished to be bereft of all worldly influences.

This also seems to follow after ancient views of knowledge.  After all, when Pythagoras or the Jains of India sought to learn more about the abstract qualities of numbers, they also felt that in so doing they would unlock a spiritual aspect of themselves.  They felt that understanding numbers would lead them to understanding the divine. Why else would Pythagoras' adherents assign meaning and gender to numbers, even praying to the number 10 as the "most holy"? Why would the Babylonians use a base 60 number system to correspond to the numerical rating they gave to their highest God? People in these times believed that numbers were divine, and that deep study of them would bring one closer to their God(s).

So, that last paragraph was me largely throwing out a lot of ideas regarding the ancient's views on numbers, but I would definitely say that this still had some influence in the minds of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. If we look at Shakespeare's other plays and remind ourselves that this was still near the time of the Renaissance, we can easily see it creep into his works. After all, if numbers and other types of learning were not seen as "divine" or god-like, how could Prospero hold so much power based solely on his learning from his books? How could witches exist? It seems that much of the supernatural things humans can do in plays are attributed to their learning. I find it very interesting.

 

Isn't it an interesting book? We have Prospero's magic mixed with learning. Go figure! Fits this post perfectly!

Anyway, that's what it got me thinking about.  The play's about love, and I think about math and magic. Go me! I'll probably be single for a long time because of that. :)

Out of the ashes...

So, I've been gone for quite a while!  It's been a while since I was that sick.  I'm feeling quite a bit better now though, so I'll be getting a lot of stuff up now in the next few days!!!

More on Final Project Ideas

So, I was thinking yesterday about how I could possibly put some more common Shakespeare themes into my idea of a play where Puck is the main character.  From this, I began thinking about how a lot of the plays that I have read have something to do with loyalty of friends or family.

Basically, what if Puck had begun as a lowly underling, but then started dating a high-up fairy?  This would mean that Puck would probably have had a very different personality at the beginning as a young-un, but that he was just beginning to blossom and this higher-up fairy had seen that.

But then, what if she dies, or leaves him for something else, etc., and he becomes sad.  However, then his family and friends kind of shun him--even though right before this they had all held him in high esteem (but, it turns out, it was only because he was gaining prestige)--and he then is left sad and alone (think of Job too here).

After this point, he could go through everything I had in my initial blog, Oberon takes a liking to him, and he rises in prestige yet again.  Now, his friends and family try to return to him, but he refuses and shuns them (maybe have some of a revenge theme here?).  Nobody speaks of the painful points of Puck's transformation after this either as they do not want him to relapse.

I think that this will be what I develop first then.  I'll put some writing down on my post Saturday, unless I somehow get it done by tomorrow.  I'd definitely appreciate it if you all looked it over and gave suggestions!  That, of course, includes this post.  Does anybody have any other ideas for this?  Anything you think should change or could be improved?

Now, here are a few other ideas for it, represented in a more user friendly format:

This makes me think of Shakespeare's fairies mixed with those wood things in Princess Mononoke.  So, one like this could gear us towards a more "cutesy" play.

This is similar to the first, but maybe a little plainer.  If we can't think of enough to flesh out the characters, or just want a "cutesy" play without the sometimes-crazy interpretations in anime-styled things like Princess Mononoke.  :)

To me, this "Alone" just spells out a tragedy...

Tragedy, with hope on the horizon?

Alone, but with mystery (Romance genre). So, something happens/comes to him to get him to go to Ariel? It becomes an important, magical mission?

We could make it really freaky...Asian horror films sure do capture that...

Now, here's something I found just searching "Alone" on YouTube. I thought it could also be interesting to give Puck an awfully dark history. Say his girlfriend cheats on him, and his feelings are similar to those of this song. Then, to turn it all around at the very end (maybe after he brings about her death--revenge plot), we could switch the girl from being a terrible person who trampled on his heart to someone who always did love him and under some circumstances had to/was forced to do that to him for his own good or from magic, etc. Now, Shakespeare generally ended his plays with all dying after this, but what if she asked him to live on and he did for her, or he chose not to die in order to face up to what he did to her as a sort of penance? And he is such a trickster now because it is his way of forgetting what happened but staying alive and trying to be what he could have been before this all happened (to be what he was becoming before it all). Or maybe Oberon could give him some "Forget-Me" juice. In any case, I think this would be a pretty tragic beginning!!!

Side Project

So, I think that this would be fun.  One of the things I alluded to in my last post regarding human nature both in plays and in writing plays was:

"I wonder what people would think if guys/girls suddenly did speak similarly to this.  Would they be freaked out, or would they really enjoy it?  Maybe we should try it out.  :)  We could even record the statistics and turn it into a math thing.  That'd be fun."


So, I really think that I'd like to do that.  If anybody could help me out with that by helping me compile a list of romantic sayings in Shakespeare throughout all his plays, that would be much appreciated.  Afterwards, it'll be great to get a group together and try those out on people in a natural way.  We could record what the reactions are numerically somehow, because I'd like to do some statistical analysis on that.  We could see how well these lines will relate to people today.  I'll go over the logistics of that a bit more so we can record data more efficiently.


What does everybody think?  If it is successful, we can try it out with other genres too.

A deeper look at human nature

So, I was re-reading one of my first blogs (on bravery in Henry V) and I got to thinking about how characters ins Shakespeare's plays--and in stories in general--almost always seem to be up on a pedestal.  They seem to exude all of the characteristics that we all want to have.  Well, the protagonists at least.  I don't think we wish we could murder like Claudius or scheme like Edmund.  But then I got to thinking about A Midsummer Night's Dream.  Now, there's definitely a lot of "love" going on here.  But definitely not the normal kind.  I don't know too many guys who would go up to a girl they like and say something along the lines of:

"I swear to thee, by Cupid's strongest bow, By his best arrow with the golden head, By the simplicity of Venus' doves, By that which knitteth souls and prospers loves, And by that fire which burn'd the Carthage queen..."

I wonder what people would think if guys/girls suddenly did speak similarly to this.  Would they be freaked out, or would they really enjoy it?  Maybe we should try it out.  :)  We could even record the statistics and turn it into a math thing.  That'd be fun.

Anyway, back on task.  Now, it may be because I just need to see it played out, but I feel like it would be interesting if a play were to delve deeper into the emotion of love than writers generally seem to do.  After all, how many people do experience this sort of romantic development?  We don't all have fairies to play with our lives.  But this definitely does add to the feeling of mystery and allow the audience to slip away into a fantasy world powered by their own imagination.

So, that would be the challenge in writing a play about a deeper love--with the entire roller coaster affect of ups and downs, "do they like me?s," "why did this have to happen?s," etc.  If you could still set it apart from people's lives, but somehow connect it on a deeper level, you could do this I suppose.  So, it sounds pretty tough now that I am writing it, but I think it could turn out pretty interesting.  And perhaps Shakespeare does have some a bit more like this.  He definitely has downer moments in his tragedies, and A Midsummer Night's Dream is meant to be really light-hearted.

In any case, it just really made me wonder, and so I wanted to write a bit about that.  I'm sure I'll revisit this a bit later on.

New Design

By the way, I am totally open to suggestions regarding my new look.  What does everybody think at the moment?  Better?  Worse?  If there are any things you think could be improved, please let me know!!!

The Tempest: Wishbone Style

So, I know a lot of us like Wishbone.  I figured this could be appreciated.  And, just because it was cool, here was one of the comments:

best show ever. it is the single reason I am an English major.

hannahpoozer 10 months ago

          Yep. I'm pretty sure that's how it is. I mean, who needed spark notes when you had Wishbone?!? In the immortal words of my brother: "I'm cultured. I watched Wishbone!" :)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

So, on Monday I spent a bit of time with my cousins.  For a bit we watched The Lion King II.  And yep, it's a sequel alright.  Lion King: excellent movie.  Lion King II: premise is alright for a movie, but the songs especially made me want to rip my ears out.

Anyway, it was interesting to hear some Shakespeare in it.  First, here's the basic premise of the movie.  You have the Pridelanders under Simba, and those who had followed Scar were exiled.  They are the Outcasts.  Kovu had been chosen by Scar to succeed him before his death.  Now, near the beginning of the movie, Kovu and Simba's daughter (yep, don't remember her name, so I guess that shows what I REALLY cared for the movie overall...) meet, but Kovu gets busted because he is an Outcast who happens to be in the Pridelands after he and the daughter nearly get eaten by crocodiles.  So, as Simba is talking about judgement and the price of an Outcast coming into the Pridelands, Kovu's mother says something along the lines of "He's just a young cub, but if you have to have your pound of flesh..."  Hmmm.  Interesting.

So, here is Kovu just a bit before the "pound of flesh" comment.

I can definitely see this movie as a bit of a mix between elements of both Romeo and Juliet (since the two lions  are from "warring factions") and The Merchant of Venice (it's pretty clear-cut in the above paragraph why).  So, my level of respect for the movie definitely went up a bit after I realized that.  But it still isn't anywhere near the Hamlet-esque Lion King.  I mean, you even have the littler elements represented!  For example, Claudius sets up the fencing scene of the play, and he even poisons Laertes' sword.  In the end, it comes back full circle and he dies with that sword--so all his plans and all the elements of the plan came back to kill him.  With Scar, it was the hyenas.  He used them to chase Simba away and increase his power, etc., but in the end they were the ones who turned on him and killed him.  I thought parallels like that that were more hidden were pretty cool.

And now, just because it was right under the picture I used above (it must be a sign!) I'll put this here for the girls.  This is somebody's rendition of Kovu as a human:

A few videos on King Lear

So, it's probably just me, but reading King Lear dug up some distant memory in my mind.  That memory was this story (that goes to about 6:30):

It's so sad!  Having seen it again now, it does have some good parallels to King Lear (yes, here is my justification for putting it up here).

First, there is a king.  That's obvious.  But I felt that he goes through a few of the same things that Lear goes through and, for that matter, Gloucester does too.  He has a dear, dear friend.  For Lear and Gloucester, this could be Cordelia and Edgar.  Kent could fit here too.  Anyway, in a fit of misguided rage the king gets rid of his good friend, whose only aim was the benefit of the king.  In like manner, what did Cordelia, Edgar, and Kent all do, and why did they do it?  After a time, the king realizes his mistake and feels great sorrow.  So it was with Lear and Gloucester.

On another note, during the nights the king and his hawk had winds.  Like a storm.  Like King Lear was traipsing around in.  And during the days they were scorched.  Kind of like Lear experienced trying to live with Goneril and Regan.  

Now, here's another video!  Yay!

All I can say is, Lear should have been happy with Cordelia's fifty percent:


          "Haply, when I shall wed, That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry Half my love with him, half my care and duty."

After all, if Juan Cougar's girl can settle for eight percent, why shouldn't Lear settle for a full half???

Final Project Idea

So, I had wanted to start on it, but our class discussion sparked an idea for something to write about.  Instead of a skeleton of a script written up, I have nothing.  Here's a simple outline though.  What does everybody think?  (For those not involved in our class discussion, we talked a bit about coming up with something like a "lost play" or something like that and developing it.  We talked a bit about running with Aubrie's idea here: Final Project Idea.)

First, I figured the main character could be Puck.  (Yes, I had just read A Midsummer Night's Dream.  It was fresh on my mind.)

Second, (I don't know why--maybe because because it had just been Valentine's Day) I thought we could possibly do something along the lines of Puck has girl-->Puck loses girl (break-up, tragic death, etc.).

Third, Puck develops a "black humour."  So, basically, he bleakly does his tasks and overall depresses Oberon to the point where he is told to go shape up.  So he goes to see the doctor or a wise man, or something like that.  Here, he is told to de-stress and get a hobby.  Suggestions could be tennis, chasing after girls (which obviously won't work this was the cause, but the "expert" could joke around with things like not actually catching them or doing a "catch-and-release" like fishing--something like that, depends on the person's character, etc. ...I hope the girls aren't too mad about that...), etc.

Fourth, Puck decides to go to the "local guru" of pranks.  This happens to be Ariel.  He is given some tasks--mostly the ones actually mentioned when Puck first appears in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

By the end, Puck can be the Puck we know is Shakespeare's play.


So, it's just a thought right now but I think that we could have some fun in this play, and we can tie in comedy at the end with some possible tragedy at the beginning in order to get a good feel for dealing with a variety of Shakespeare's works.

What does everybody think about that???

A better view of blogging

So, I've been pretty lax about my blogging lately.  I have a few things I have part-way done, but I need to finish them!  I also need to fix some things that Professor Burton and I talked about.

So, here are the things that I am going to change to try to improve my blogging.


FIRST
          Consistency!!!  I need to be way more consistent on my blogging instead of putting up a bunch at the same time and leaving a dead spot in between.  So, how about this.  From now on I will always post SOMETHING every Thursday, Saturday, and Monday.  Anything else will be extra.  So, look for it!


SECOND
          I need to change my design and enhance readability.  So, how about this.  By Saturday I'll have given my blog a makeover.  Any suggestions?


THIRD
          Social Outreach.  I need to do it a whole lot better.  So, I'll start doing that.  Like, now.  Right now.


FOURTH
          I need to go more in depth with my analysis.  So, I'll probably be re-visiting some of our plays and delving in a bit more.


So, that's the goal.  Please help me!!!

We want, but we won't give

So, Claudius kind of reminded me of a monkey.

Probably exactly what Claudius looked like in Shakespeare's originals.

So, you might be asking yourself "How on earth does that tie in to this?"  Well, here's how.  But instead of just telling you, I'll link you to a story about it.  It'll probably be more fun that way.  Here it is!

The Monkey and the Juggler

So, many of you have probably heard of something like this before.  Here is how it applies well to Claudius:

1.  He began by seeing the bait: he wanted everything that his brother had (kingdom, riches, power, wife, etc.).
2.  He then stuck his hand in and grabbed everything he wanted.
3.  He was unwilling to let go.

The scene that best emphasizes this parallel is Act III Scene III.  I'd suggest re-reading the end, where you have Claudius bemoaning his "wretched state" and "bosom black as death" juxtaposed with Hamlet's desire to avenge his father but unwilling to do so if it will send Claudius to heaven.

What I'd like for us to do now (on our own) is analyze how WE can be such monkeys too today.  After all, human nature keeps a pretty steady course.  Our actions often state along with Claudius: "May one be pardon'd and retain the offence?"  In other words, can we be forgiven, but still keep everything we gained through our malignancy?  We can all definitely find ways that we do the same thing, in a much smaller way (I hope).  Just something to think about...

Hey, it's Valentine's Day!!!

So, here's a little something for the holidays.

Did anyone ever realize how perfect Savage Garden's "I Knew I Loved You" fits with the relationship between Miranda and Ferdinand in The Tempest???

Here, have a listen:

Here's my take on the lyrics:

"I Knew I Loved You"

Maybe it's intuition 
But some things you just don't question
Like in your eyes
I see my future in an instant
and there it goes
I think I've found my best friend
I know that it might sound more than
a little crazy but I believe 

This is just the introduction to their "love at first sight" love.  Hence, "maybe it's intuition, and no, I am definitely NOT going to question it." They both definitely did feel the other was destined to be their best friend. (After all, nothing says BFFs like playing chess behind the curtain--but seriously, I do love chess...) We also spoke in class about the "love at first sight" thing they had going on.  We could tie that into "I know that it might sound more than a little crazy..." to which, these days, we can rearrange to be "I know that it might sound more than a little crazy but this is BYU..." or something like that. See? Happens all the time.

[chorus:] 


I knew I loved you before I met you
I think I dreamed you into life
I knew I loved you before I met you
I have been waiting all my life

Um, can it get any more "love at first sight" than this? I don't really think I need to explain why I think the chorus ties into their love story...

There's just no rhyme or reason
only this sense of completion
and in your eyes
I see the missing pieces
I'm searching for
I think I found my way home
I know that it might sound more than
a little crazy but I believe

This, I feel, is simply a continuation of what was just stated. They are basically thinking like this:

                                

[repeat chorus] 


A thousand angels dance around you
I am complete now that I found you 


[repeat chorus to fade]

They are on a mystical island for crying out loud!  In Act 3 Scene 3, Ferdinand's comrades were surrounded by "angels." So who's to say that it didn't happen for them too?

Now, a thought:

So, why did Ferdinand say Miranda was so beautiful? Surely as a prince that was at a marrying age, he'd seen all sorts of possible brides. I imagine that at least some of them were pretty good looking. They couldn't have all been inbred royalty, like this:

          ***Okay, I admit, that may be a bit of a stretch, but you have to go off the stereotypes sometimes, right???

I also wonder what makeup was like at the time, because if it was popular to look like this:

then I can completely understand his reaction. It'd be like he'd died and gone to heaven just to see ANY girl who looked normal. After all, for lot of guys like me it is much better to see a girl the way she more naturally looks. It just looks prettier and classier.  I guess I do have a bias in that though. I'm the sort of guy that doesn't like tons of jewelry, but I do think that something like a single thin, silver chain necklace or something of the like is very attractive. I also think things like lip gloss were a great development because lipstick seems too overbearing at times, and gloss seems to match a more natural hue.

Just a funny comic

So, it appears I'm the one who mostly posts funny stuff or something.  I should probably analyze more.  Maybe after this one...

So, after this class we'll all have it made.  'Cuz we'll all have had experience with Shakespeare, so we can come to the president's rescue.  Just sayin'.

More Math and Shakespeare

Well Professor, here's something more on math that you sparked.  Just a little thing though.  You wanted me to tie sin(x) in with Ophelia.  Here's something you can look at between her, Hamlet, and trigonometric functions.

First, here is what normal cosine and sine functions look like:

Now, what does this graph make you think of?

If you thought of both Hamlet and Ophelia going crazy, you are right!  Think of the oscillations as the frantic thinking of a person's mind as it nears certain outside influences.  Now, sin(1/x) has no real value when x=0.  We can think of that as the point where a person no longer wants to live.  So, where would Hamlet lie throughout his "to be or not to be" soliloquy?  What path does Ophelia follow?

With that under your belts, this one is just another way to view it:

So, let's imagine that the distance you go to the right represents a certain distance into the future.  For both Hamlet and Ophelia, they felt more and more constricted as time went on throughout the play.  So, for this sine-looking function, I'd say it could represent they way they both felt.  For example, let's take Ophelia.  She begins by seeing Hamlet's love for her die.  She feels pushed down.  Then her father dies.  She feels like she has lost everything.  As these, and other, events take place, she feels pushed into a corner more and more until she reaches the point of "1/x."

On Hamlet

So, here's something I started before last class and am just now finally finishing (trying to delve deeper too after what we discussed in class):

Wow.  Goodbye happy times.

There are a lot of dark, twisted events in Hamlet.  This being my first time reading it, it definitely brought a few things to my mind that I definitely would not have connected without having read it.

First of all, there is no mercy in revenge in this play.  Both Hamlet and Laertes were wholly bent on their revenge and nothing could keep them from it.  For Laertes, he so quickly turned to revenge in the shadows by following Claudius' advice of foul play by using poison and trying to kill Hamlet without letting him know directly that it was now time for his revenge.  No honor.  This also surprised me more because his father had seemed like a decent fellow and the play began with a stark contrast between his seemingly good family and Hamlet's broken family.  I thought he would have been a bit better than that.  For Hamlet, he chose to postpone killing his uncle in case his uncle would go to heaven.  He wanted to see him burning in Hell instead.  In addition, he coldly sent his former friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to die.  He had no thought but to get his revenge, and he lost everything in the bargain.  Again, there was no honor in his sense of vengeance either.

Going over Hamlet's "to be or not to be" soliloquy was really interesting too.  Here one of the things we as "Denmark" learned while we went over this monologue:

First, we found a running theme with water running throughout his monologue.  It begins with the "sea of troubles" he is facing.  Later, we found that a bourn is a small stream, especially one that flows intermittently or seasonally.  Additionally, it could also be used to denote a goal or destination.  Finally, it ends with his loss of resolve as he states "With this regard their currents turn awry, and lose the name of action."  It is interesting how Shakespeare uses this to tie everything together.  I feel as though it can represent his level of desire to act .  We determined that he was closest to action at the beginning, and this is the point where the water is a sea.  I picture it as a sea during the storm, with white frothy crests coming over the side of the ship, lightning, billowing surges, etc.  Later on, though, it becomes a small stream that only flows from time to time.  After thinking about life after death (i.e. hell), he hardly wants to and it is only intermittently.  After thinking a bit more, the "currents turn awry."  At this point, his desire is nothing but a small trickle.  It's like a dry riverbed in the desert.  He isn't going to do anything.  I thought that this was a brilliant way of layering the meaning in Hamlet's words.

Something for all to think about

So, on Thursday I am going to be talking with one of the actors from The Merchant of Stratford.  Does anybody have any questions they'd like me to ask him?  I was planning on talking a bit about getting into character, planning the play, etc. and I'm just wondering what everybody else is interesting in learning about.  Just leave me questions in the comments section!

Learning Outcomes Check-up

Here's a quick check-up on how I feel I am doing according to our class learning outcomes:


1.  Gain Shakespeare Literacy
          I feel like I have done pretty well in this aspect.  I understand a lot more of Shakespeare now than I did before taking this class, and as we go over different parts of the play each class I feel like I have a better and better understanding of what's actually going on and why so many people do like Shakespeare.
2.  Analyze Shakespeare Critically
          This is definitely something I feel I can work on more.  As we discussed in our last class, our reviews weren't necessarily the best.  I still have something coming from that where I plan to talk to one of the actors about what went into making the play, but I definitely feel like I can delve deeper into different aspects of each play a lot better than I do at the moment.
3.  Engage Shakespeare Creatively
          I haven't done enough for this yet.  I do want to do a recording of myself with some lines.  Before it was suggested in our last class I had thought it would be something fun to do (immediately following having us try to read Hamlet's soliloquy over in "Denmark").  There's also the project to think about, although as of yet I don't have any solid plans for it.  This is something I really look forward to doing more in the future, but I suppose I need to sit down and get some solid direction before I can really sink my teeth into it.
4.  Share Shakespeare Meaningfully
          This is something that I have tried to do a bit.  I have definitely brought up Shakespeare a lot more this semester than ever before (especially since before this class I NEVER brought it up).  Usually, the people I mention it too aren't interested, but sometimes they are.  For example, I did go the the play with somebody, and in the future she said she would show me some of the movies that she likes that are based on Shakespeare's plays and I planned to blog about those times too.
5.  Gain Digital Literacy
          The blog itself, of course, is a big part of this one.  How have I done?  At the beginning, I was just getting into blogging, so it was pretty slow.  Then I had a week or week and a half where I posted a lot.  And then midterms came and it pretty much came to a halt.  So overall, I think I've only done an average job of this and I should really set some times aside to blog every week so I don't fall into the rut I am now (hopefully) out of.  That way I won't slack again next time midterms roll around.

Review of The Merchant of Venice

So, last Saturday when we all went to see the Merchant of Venice, I had gone with some mixed feelings.  Mostly just because of how Antonio (an older man in my mind) was to be Antonia (a younger woman) and how it appeared online that the Prince of Morocco was to be white (I guess you can't help that though, but it threw me off!).

In the end, though, I really liked it.  I think it really served the purpose that was chosen for it, which was, in my mind, definitely a difficult undertaking.

To begin with, there were a couple of things, either because of how the play was performed or simply by seeing it acted out instead of me merely reading it, that really opened my eyes more.  For example, the unfairness of the entire play toward Shylock stood out a lot more in large part because of the great portrayal of Shylock and small things the cast did like when Antonia spit on Shylock at the very beginning.  Another thing that struck me differently was seeing Bassanio as a jerk to Shylock.  It is definitely ingrained in me that "the good guy gets the girl" (yes that is a reference to Megamind), yet Bassanio got the girl and was really really mean in many ways to Shylock.  He had absolutely no respect as one should have toward another human being.

Another thought that I had during the play was how  well the cast acted to help younger kids understand.  For one, Portia could easily relate to middle school girls.  She was so giddy, or so cruel, depending on the suitor. In addition, having the audience act out certain parts--especially main parts like Nerissa's--was an excellent touch.  It was really engaging for all of the audience as the kids were so cute acting along, and it is so much more fun for them too.  I do believe that, despite all dialogue being in Shakespeare's prose, everyone was able to better understand the plot because they were actually able to be physically involved in the play.

Finally, I really liked how there was a definite moral at the end of this play.  They started by applying it to kids in school with Bassanio's dinosaur being stolen and with him then being teased.  At this time I thought to myself: "Great. Just great.  This is going to be a long hour.  I left shows like this (where the acting is over the top as they are portraying children fighting) behind a long time ago because I cannot stand them!"  And then I was pleasantly surprised by a great play.  It was good, in my opinion, to start this way because they were then able to finish with an appeal to the audience.  "Was it fair?  What was right?  How should it have been?  What would you have done?" Finishing like that really was a great touch.

A bit more with math...

So, before I move on to the plays we are going over, here's another one for all of you:

Going back to our discussion of The Tempest, it was brought up that "wench" during Shakespeare's time was simply a way of referring to a lass.  This, of course, sounds unnatural in our time.  Now, again to humor you, here's a way to tie it into math.  If we were to ignore the original meaning of this word, a mathematician might prove how a woman is a "wench" thusly:

But first, a side note: I did a proof in LaTeX for this that I like better, but it doesn't like the formatting and it won't link up nicely.  So instead, here is somebody else's:

http://www.anvari.org/fun/Gender/Proof_that_Girls_are_Evil.html

Of course, this is based on the bad connotation the word has attached to it today.  Looking it up in the dictionary will lead many (I think) to find that they didn't fully understand it before.  At least, I didn't know what it was.  Probably because I grew up just knowing it was "bad."

Now, for all the ladies reading this, this is what you should REALLY read.  First, I'm sure many of you have seen this before, and probably hate it.  Now, I want to tie this into something that Kent wrote earlier this week on his blog here: http://kentlloyd232.blogspot.com/2012/01/mans-attitude.html

Second, let's look at reality:

Isn't this something along the lines of what happens or you wish would happen when you see things like this?  I simply wanted to put this in here to further the thoughts of Kent on how men--then and now--always seem to want to make themselves appear as "God's gift to women," but how they wind up just putting others down and making them a whole lot less desirable.  Of course, this is something that may occur more now with women than it did then.  What do you all say?

Math and Shakespeare

This is for you Professor Burton:


http://math-fail.com/2012/01/math-and-shakespeare.html

I definitely approve of this comic.
So you all get the "To be or not to be" joke, sqrt(4b^2) is positive or negative 2b. Thus, it is 2b or naught 2b. Get it? Sure, naught is stretching it a bit, but I definitely liked it.  Anybody else?

Comedy

So, The Merchant of Venice was pretty funny.  It was definitely a lot easier for me to catch all of the jokes used throughout the play, and it helped when there was a big set-up to the punchline.

Much of this play, of course, revolves around the three thousand ducat debt.  By the end, you kind of even forget Bassanio winning the right to marry Portia.  In the beginning, I totally agree with Sarah's post about the onset of the said debt.  You can see her's here:
http://zittingsarah232.blogspot.com/2012/01/christ-like-love.html

I find it interesting, however, that it changed so much so quickly at the end.  Through one misfortune after another, Antonio is bankrupt and cannot pay.  Then, Bassanio steps in with the needed money.  However, Shylock really does play the devil and insists on the flesh.  And then it all comes to a quick and convenient conclusion through the crafty words of Portia.  I, for one, felt a bit bad for Shylock--everyone conspired against him.  He, of course, wanted revenge too much, but being forced to change religion even?  That brings to mind the scene from The Fiddler on the Roof where Tevye finally exclaims "No! There is no other hand!" Here's the audio for his internal struggle over Chava converting to Christianity:

On the other hand, Shylock had definitely been more concerned about his money than Jessica's conversion, so maybe it wasn't such a big deal to him really.

Now, for some more comedy, as the title says.

Here were some of the scenes I found to be humorous:
     1. Portia says that the Neapolitan Prince speaks only of his horse.  Anybody else think of the Dauphin from Henry V?
     2. Tubal and Shylock's conversation.  I really think the audience enjoyed Tubal's character.  He switches from one sort of bad news about Jessica's spending habits directly to "good" news about Antonio's misfortune, and then switches back again.  I got a very clear picture in my mind about the drastic facial changes Shylock should go through after every sentence Tubal speaks.
     3. Of course, the court scene.  Again, the audience would have loved Portia and Nerissa's entrance.  And then the part with them taking the rings and, back-to-back before that, having their husbands say something about basically giving them up for Antonio's sake while they are standing right there.  Poor guys.  They'll definitely be scrubbing toilets this weekend.

Of course, there were many funny bits and others that I would like to look into more, but I won't go over all the small lines, nor will I delve into anything else right now.  That can be for my "Post-Class Reflection" that I want to start up.

Just something funny

So, nobody has posted anything about this yet.  I think it's pretty funny, even for someone who hasn't read Hamlet before.  For those who have read it or are familiar with the plot, how does it compare?

Not the best quality video, but still funny.